Kaizer Chiefs winger Happy Mashiane is determined to work as hard as possible and make his academy mentors proud.
The 22-year-old was at the Future Through Football (FTF) academy for six months before joining the Chiefs development team in June 2014.
Mashiane pointed out that Amakhosi legends Ryder Mofokeng, Ace Khuse, and Arthur Zwane all made significant contributions to his game by teaching him valuable lessons from which he still extracts value.
"We had great mentors in the Academy. Legends such as Ryder Mofokeng, Ace Khuse, and Arthur Zwane have been in the game for long and they played a huge role in our upbringing. They taught us a lot and I will always remember their advice," Mashiane told the Kaizer Chiefs website.
"I am proud, to say the least. It is a great honour to play for Kaizer Chiefs and represent my country."
"I knew that the East Rand produced some of the finest footballers and that encouraged me. I did not endure a difficult upbringing, but in terms of my football career, it was not an easy path to get to the professional level," Mashiane continued.
"I was fortunate to grow up under a good mentor like Ghino Johnson. Ghino always told me that I have the potential to make it in the professional ranks. He always pushed me to work hard.
"Ghino started a development team called Future Through Football which I played for. The team was based in Sandton. It was not easy, but he organised transport for us to travel to and from training. We had a great time with Ghino at FTF.
"After playing for under Ghino’s guidance for a few months, we then had an opportunity to play against Kaizer Chiefs U-17 in the league. I impressed during the game and got invited to Kaizer Chiefs youth academy for trials.
"As the saying goes, the rest is history. Here I am; a Glamour Boy today."
- TEAMtalk media